Not Again
by EggrollEmpress
Summary: Another villain is rising, they're planning on releasing the Leviathan again, with the help of the Oricahlcos stone. Atlantis is going to war again, and they need the Legendary swordsmen again, but even they need help...
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I own the plot and 624 Yu-Gi-Oh cards… not the characters though…**

**Not Again**

**Prologue: ****What happened two years ago.**

Téa Gardner was now eighteen, two years ago a fire destroyed her house. Along with all her money savings, that she was using for her dream of New York. She was so close to her goal and lost it all! Her parents had the house quickly rebuilt but that still took months. With all the reconstruction and paying a hotel bill, her parents couldn't give Téa any money to at least get started in saving again.

It was difficult for her friends to console her, since none of them knew what it was like to lose all that she lost. She had to start from scratch when she was so close to that New York school dream. Téa constantly blamed herself for keeping her money at home instead of a bank. Her friends tried to tell her that it wasn't her fault, which it wasn't. She didn't plan on having a devastating fire destroy her home.

When Joey had some extra cash, he thought it'd be nice if he gave it to Téa to help her rebuild the amount she had before. Téa refused to take his money, she felt wrong making her friends take pity on her loss. Which it was difficult not to, even the richest man in Japan learned that Téa's house was burned down. It was in the papers and Mokubah happened to inform him as well. Mokubah told Seto he should help or stop by and ask how she was doing.

Even Seto, felt sorry for Gardener. He obliged Mokubah and they drove down to the Game Shop. Where Téa had been spending her days, working for Yugi's grandpa, at least making a start in collecting her original amount. Her parents were proud that she didn't give up because of a fire, but even so it was going to take even longer to collect the money. It was a good thing Téa also had a job at Burger World. The two jobs allowed her to make double the money in a day. When the brothers found out she was working at Burger World that hour, they quickly made their way there before her shift ended.

_Flashback (two years ago)_

That afternoon, the Kaiba brothers walked into the Burger World Téa was working at. Luckily, she was the waitress serving them. Téa saw Seto, he was wearing his outfit from Battle City, she expected him to make fun of her, or taunt her at how he wasn't in a financial situation. To her surprise his eyes showed pity and he seemed nicer.

Téa thought, _"Well, a lot of things have changed already…all because of a stupid fire…"_

As she approached their booth, where they were waiting to be served, the brothers just watched her, making her feel uneasy.

"Hey Téa, how's it going?" Mokubah asked, missing some of his usual enthusiastic spark.

"Hello Mokubah," she glanced at Seto, he was looking out the window, "hi Kaiba." She greeted him with a gruff tone.

"Hello _Téa_, if you think I'm going to stoop that low and tease someone in your situation that has lost everything, you are truly mistaken." Seto greeted her without shifting his gaze.

Téa was slightly shocked but was still rude, "Oh so is _kindness _from Seto Kaiba? I've never heard of such a thing."

Seto thought, _"This has really affected her a lot, I've never seen her act _this _way before…"_

He turned and looked her in the eyes, his eyes were unreadable.

"Listen here _Gardner_," he said going back to using her last name, "I have lost everything before! Don't think I'm such a cold heartless creature! I lost something very important to any child, my parents! You're lucky you didn't lose your parents in that fire! All I had was my brother, and you know what? It hurt, it still does. But I got back up, even after our relatives stole what was left to us, I still got back up. I saw a chance to give my brother a better childhood than mine, and I took it. I did regrettable things. All of my choices helped me reach my goal. Mokubah and I came here, hoping you would accept kindness from _us_, but I can see you want it from him and not me. That's fine, but understand, I am not always like what you think I am."

When Seto finished he was standing, his eyes looked slightly glistened, probably from thinking of his deceased parents. Téa looked at Seto, she felt so bad. She knew what happened to her was something she could recover from with time and effort, but what happened to the Kaibas was just cruel. Here she was telling him off as if she was the only one who suffered. Seto and Mokubah suffered a crueler fate than her. Mokubah barely knew his parents, Seto's childhood was ruined since he had to take on the responsibility of caring for his brother. Plus Seto had to work past his limits just to please his stepfather.

Téa stood there shocked, and speechless. She didn't know what to say, but she knew she couldn't just drop the conversation like that.

"Kaiba…I'm…I'm so…I'm really sorry. I forgot, about…what happened…to your…parents…" her voice slowly died.

Seto just looked away and walked past her to the men's washroom. Mokubah looked at his brother with concern. He had never seen or heard Seto say things like that before.

"Listen Téa, Seto is rough around the edges but really he can be very kind," when Téa didn't say anything he continued. "When Seto and I heard about the fire, I was shocked. Seto he seemed more out of it, like he had some sort of hidden pain. Either it stirred up bad memories or he felt really bad for you. I could tell he wanted to visit you and talk or something, but he couldn't without an excuse. Well I brought up the idea and here we are, he said he had an idea to help you out. He really was just trying to be nice, I didn't know you thought he was that mean…he has a soft spot for things like this…it makes me feel bad."

Téa listened to Mokubah's explanation and felt even worse about how she treated Seto.

"Oh Mokubah! I'm really really sorry! I- I just had a lot of anger, I needed to vent it. Your brother just happened to be the victim of my anger…I just…listen since I was such a jerk today. Maybe I could make it up to you sometime, is that alright?"

"Sure Téa, but you don't have to make it up to me. You need to make this up to Seto."

"Right."

"Maybe you could just talk to him, I don't know but this fire thing just seemed like a strange blow. He just wanted to make you feel better."

"And _you're _making me feel bad!

"Sorry, but Seto really did have this nice idea. I liked it and I thought it was pretty, I don't know sweet? I mean for someone like him anyway. It was a plan to help you out."

"What was the plan?" Téa asked, her curiosity was aroused.

"I'm not telling! It was his plan! He'll tell you, if he wants to…he might not follow through now. I guess he was counting on you're usual kind self. I don't know, but I think this argument has put a dent in the plan."

"Oh…"

Just then Seto walked out of the washroom, he seemed a little fresher. He didn't make eye contact with anyone, Seto just walked to his seat, sat down and continued to look out the window.

Téa wanted to fix things so she asked in a very cheery way, "So, what'll it be boys?"

Mokubah ordered two burgers, that had mustard, ketchup, pickles, mayo, lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese. Along with medium fries and a medium root beer.

Téa turned to the older Kaiba, "What will it be sir?

Seto ordered three burgers with the same condiments as his brother, with the same order of fries. Instead of root beer, Seto ordered a Fanta. Not once did he look away from the window, after Téa got their orders she stood there uneasily. Hoping to apologize to the seventeen year old sitting in front of her.

Seto ignored her and pulled out a music player, that he built himself. He turned the volume up really loud so he couldn't hear and continued looking at the cars outside. Téa sighed, she returned later with their order.

The Kaiba brothers ate there food in silence, when Seto finished he waited patiently for his sibling to finish as well. When both brothers were finished Seto left a nice tip for the waitress, before Seto walked out the door, Téa quickly ran after him. Her shift was over so she was heading home anyway.

"Hey, um Kaiba…" she started nervously. He turned to face her, his eyes were piercing but she still saw they were filled with hurt.

"Can I help you?" he asked in a monotone voice.

"Well, I feel sorry for being rude to you earlier. So, I was wondering if I could make it up to you. Maybe go out for a movie or some dinner or something…I don't know…" her voice withered.

Seto raised an eyebrow at her, his speech must've done something to her.

"Why?"

"Well, um, I didn't want to leave things like they were. So I wanted to make things up to you."

"Right…" he said in a sarcastic tone.

"It's true! Well do you want to go on a date with me or not?"

The words slipped from her mouth before she could control herself, which caused her to cover her mouth with her hands and look at Seto with wide eyes.

He looked at her incredulously, and responded, "Oh so now it's a date?"

Téa shook her head vigorously, but he continued.

"Oh please, as if you never fantasized being in a dark theater with me."

Much to Téa's embarrassment she actually did think about going to the movies with Kaiba. She thought, _"Oh come on! What girl __**wouldn't **__want to be in a dark theater with Seto Kaiba?"_

"Well, I might be available tomorrow, since it's Saturday…I don't know, I guess you'll have to keep your fingers crossed that you get to go on a date with the famous Seto Kaiba."

"Fine, I will." She crossed her fingers as Seto climbed into his sports car.

When he started to pull away he called to her out the window, "Pick you up at seven tomorrow."

Then the Kaibas drove back to their mansion, while Téa walked back to the hotel her family was living in until the house was rebuilt.

All Téa could think about was Seto, how she'd been so rude. Not to mention her asking him on a date. Oh Joey would **never **let that down, it'd be best if none of her friends knew about this. Well, fate had other plans. Mai called while Téa was deep in her thoughts, she was startled when her phone went off.

"Hello?"

"Hey hon, what are you doing tomorrow? I was wondering if you wanted to go on a shopping spree with me and Serenity."

"Oh, um, Mai. I kind of-"

"Oh, I forgot…well you can pick out what you want. I'll pay for it, come on it's my treat."

"Mai, it's not that. "

"Then what is it? Do you have to work tomorrow?"

"No, I just sort of have plans…"

"Well since you 'sort of' have plans maybe you should cancel them and hang with the girls tomorrow night."

"As tempting as that offer is, I really have to say no. This is too important, I really can't cancel, I wouldn't want to picture what would happen if I cancelled."

"Oh…so is it a guy?"

"Wha-? How? Mai!"

"So it is a guy!"

"How did you know that?"

"I could tell with your tone, plus I'm a girl myself. I know these things. So?"

"So, what?"

"Who is he? If he's so important that you would cancel a G.N.O. he must mean a lot to you. Téa have you been crushing on a guy without telling me?"

"Mai!"

"You have haven't you?"

Téa didn't answer, she thought about it. _"Ok so what if I like Kaiba a bit, there are way more girls out there that are OBSESSED about him…besides he's pretty hot."_

"Téa you better tell me who he is." Mai stated sternly.

Téa thought about Kaiba more and got a little dreamy about him, "Well Mai. Maybe you should guess."

"I guess he is someone worth Téa Gardner's time, otherwise he is going to get a beating."

Téa laughed at her friend's guess, "Alright I'll give you hints."

"Good."

"Smart."

"Well, that just eliminated every guy we know!"

The girls laughed, and Téa continued, "He has gorgeous piercing eyes."

"Color?"

"Hey these are just hints, I'm not telling you anything specifically."

"Fine."

"Duelist."

"That's everyone we know!"

"That makes the guessing more difficult now doesn't it?"

"Yes, it does, maybe you should just tell me."

"Nope, now let me think…he has a deck full of powerful monsters."

"Téa do you pay attention at the duels? Everyone has powerful monsters, that work with their strategies."

"True, but these are rare. He doesn't believe in the Heart of the Cards."

"Ok that, I know quite a few people don't."

"True, I'm trying to make this tricky."

"Maybe you should make it easy."

"Nah, anyway. He has nice hair."

"Well, so do I."

"He doesn't like working with others, he's more solitary."

"That sounds like me, I liked being alone until Joey came along."

"He likes taunting."

"Bandit Keith! No I'm just kidding! That guy does boast and stuff though."

"Come on Mai! I know you already have the answer."

"Nope, go on."

"Well, he has a kind side. That he doesn't really show."

"Ok."

"He has a tragic past."

"Many people do."

"He has a younger sibling."

"Oh no!"

"What?"

"You better not be crushing on my man!"

"NO! Mai, I'm not crushing on Joey! He's a friend, jeez!"

"Oh, well continue…"

"He has a unique fashion sense."

"I have seen quite a few wacky costumes."

"He is an efficient worker."

"Really? No clue…go on."

"Do I really have to spell it out?"

"No."

"Yes I do."

"No you don't have to tell me who you like."

"Yes I do have to tell you that I like Seto Kaiba. Wait what?"

"OH! MY! GOSH! I KNEW IT I KNEW IT I KNEW IT!"

Téa could hear her friend squealing on the other end.

"How did you know it?"

"I know you don't think of your friends anything more than a brother. So I figured, who is the only other guy Téa really has been around? Kaiba."

"Yeah, but he is still a jerk, a stuck up rich brat. That cares only about winning."

"Yeah, but he has 'gorgeous piercing eyes, and nice hair', and he is a seventeen year-old billionaire genius that owns his own corporation, that would do anything for his little brother."

Téa was blushing a bright red, she thought, _"Did I really say all that?"_

"I never said he would-"

"You _know _he would."

"Why are we even talking about Seto?"

Wrong choice of words, Mai was squealing again.

"Oh so you use his first name now? Does he call you Téa too?"

"Well…"

"You talked to him today didn't you? He called you your name?"

Téa thought it would be easier to talk to Mai if she told her what happened earlier. So after she finished explaining, Mai seemed more calmed down.

"Well, since you are going on a date with the CEO of Kaiba Corp. I suggest I help you pick out an outfit. You got to be dressed for the best, literally that guy thinks he's the best."

"Thanks Mai!"

"Well, do you want to be a prepared a day early?"

"Sure, why not?"

"I'll be over in ten. Later Téa."

"See you soon Mai."

After Téa hung up the phone she quickly prepared her clothes for her blonde friend.

About ten minutes later Mai was at the door of Téa's hotel room.

"Hello. Lets go see what we have here."

Since the fire destroyed most of Téa's wardrobe, there wasn't much to work with.

Mai sorted and paired everything Téa had in every possible combination, but it was no use.

Mai sighed in defeat, "Alright, you my friend have a clothing CRISIS! I know the fire ruined your pretty clothes, but I think we need to go shopping right now! This is an EMERGENCY!"

"Mai, I don't have that much money!"

"Don't worry, I'll pay! Let's go pick up Serenity while we're at it, we can have our G.N.O. tonight." Mai said thoughtfully, while pushing Téa out the door.

When they arrived at the Wheeler residence, Joey was confused. Mai grabbed his sister by the arm and Mai gave him a quick kiss. Which Joey didn't mind, and went back to sorting his deck.

Serenity was just as confused as her brother, "Mai? What are you doing?"

"Emergency G.N.O. shopping spree."

Serenity looked at Téa, she nodded.

"What for?"

"Téa will explain along the way to the mall." Mai explained.

After the girls got in Mai's car, Téa ended up telling Serenity everything. At the mall, she made them swear they wouldn't tell any of the guys. Which they promised to keep her secret safe.

"Oh Téa this is so cute! You like _Kaiba_!" Serenity spoke his name quietly

"Yeah it's like one of those romance novels. The girl falls in love with a guy she's not supposed to. Then her father or whoever, tries to stop them from seeing each other. Only because, her father or something doesn't like him since he is different or rebellious."

"No Mai, it isn't like one of those romance novels. No one is stopping me, and this is just a way for me to make things up to him."

"True, now let me think. Oh! Did you hear about those t-shirts that have Duel Monsters printed on them?"

"I did! Joey was telling me all about it, and how he wanted to get himself one and Mai one. Oops! I guess I shouldn't have told you that…"

"It's alright, I can act surprised. Listen I know that store over there sells those shirts. So what is your favorite Duel Monster?"

Téa thought about it, and about her dueling experiences. When she was trapped in Noah's virtual world, she used the Dark Magician Girl. Who helped her a whole lot.

"I think it would be the Dark Magician Girl."

"Everyone knows Mai's would be the Harpie Lady. Mine, I don't know."

"It's alright Serenity, we'll get Joey to show you more about Duel Monsters sometime."

"Ok I'm going to go get you a D.M.G. shirt, go find a table so we can sit down and get something to eat. I'll be over in a few minutes."

Serenity and Téa started talking about what happened recently and found a clean table. Five minutes later, Mai came over and handed Téa two shirts.

Téa looked at the blonde with a confused look, "Two?"

"Look."

She opened the shirts and one had the Dark Magician Girl on it, the other had a Blue Eyes White Dragon.

"Oh Mai! You didn't!"

"I did! I had to, it was too tempting. Anyway, he loves those dragons. He'll be excited to have that."

"That is if he doesn't have three already." Téa grumbled.

"Well then it will be a spare."

"Thank you Mai. For everything."

"You're welcome. Now I think we should go home."

The girls walked through the mall with their purchases. When they were in the middle of the mall there was a large crowd.

"I wonder what's going on." Serenity thought out loud.

The girls pushed through the crowd to see a duel. The two duelists were a young duelist and a familiar raven haired boy.

"Mokubah?" Téa asked.

The boy turned to her, he flashed her a smile. Then turned back to his opponent, with an attack from his dragon he destroyed the rest of the other boy's life points.

"Great duel." Mokubah said, as he went over to shake his opponent's hand.

"As if." was his opponent's response.

"Well, I didn't have to kick your butt if you hadn't given me a reason to."

"What reason?"

"You don't say things like that about my big brother!" Mokubah said, getting defensive.

"Whatever, he's not that great." The kid walked away but was cornered by a bunch of Seto fan girls, that started telling him off.

Téa rushed over to Mokubah, who turned to her with a grin.

"Hey Téa, what're you doing here?"

"I was shopping. You?"

"Seto dropped me off. He said if I wanted him to pick me up I'd give him a call. Since he's off, he's back at the mansion instead of his office."

"Alright."

Mai asked, "Do you want a lift home?"

"Sure. I didn't feel like calling Seto to pick me up anyway. He looked really tired."

"That's fine with me, just make sure he doesn't sue me for bringing you home."

"He won't."

Mai drove the car to the Kaiba mansion, the girls were in awe looking at the large driveway. When they pulled up to the door, Mokubah offered them to come inside. All but Téa declined, who agreed only in hope to see Seto.

"Wow…" Téa said as she looked around the large room before her. Her eyes wandered to the stairs, where she saw Seto making his way down. She could feel her face reddening since Seto was wearing his black pants from earlier but instead of his trench coat, he was wearing a black tank top. Which exposed his toned arms.

"Mokubah, I thought I told you to call me to pick you up. I was worrying about you for the past hour." He ran a hand through his hair to show his frustration.

"Sorry Seto. But I was given an offer. Mai asked if I wanted a lift home. I accepted. And I offered the girls inside but only Téa said yes."

"Girls?" Seto raised his eyebrow with suspicion.

"Yes, we just had a G.N.O. at the mall. We found your brother, he was dueling some kid. Right?"

"Yeah! He was saying some mean things about you Seto! So I dueled him!"

"He won by the way. Must be in the genes."

Seto laughed. He knew his brother would do things like that.

"Thanks for bringing him home." Seto walked past the two towards the door.

"Well you might want to hurry, because it looks like your friends are trying to make a getaway. Without you."

Téa rushed outside before Mai could pull out. She glared at her friends and didn't say anything until she was at home.

"Goodbye." with that Téa slammed the door behind her before the others could say anything.

The next day the brunette's had their date. Téa's date with Seto went well. Seto was wearing a black sweatshirt, with dark blue jeans and a white t-shirt, along with a pair of sunglasses. Téa wore the Dark Magician Girl shirt, with skinny jeans. All they did was go see a movie, then get some pizza. While they were eating their pizza, Téa gave Seto the Blue Eyes shirt. His face showed surprise, he smiled at the gift. Then he glanced at Téa's shirt, it had the Dark Magician Girl on it.

"Thank you." he said politely.

"You're welcome."

"I guess my disguise is slightly better, though."

"How so?"

"If I wore this shirt, which trust me I will, people would know I'm Seto Kaiba."

"No they wouldn't."

"This shirt plus my height, my voice, my hair, and sunglasses. People would recognize me. Then fan girls would attack you."

"Well that isn't good."

"No, but I'll wear this around the house."

"You mean mansion."

"Yeah, well I have an offer to make you."

"What kind of offer?"

"Alright more like a loan, except you don't have to pay me back."

Téa choked on her soda.

"Wha-?" she spluttered.

"You heard me. I am willing to give you the amount of money that you lost in the fire, no expense to you."

"You can't be serious! That is a lot of money!"

"I am serious. Besides I have way more money than that."

"Why would you do that for me?"

"I don't like bad things happening. I decided it'd be alright if I helped someone out every once in a while."

"But."

"You lost everything you worked for in that fire. I know what that feels like, I lost my parents. I have constantly worked past my limits since then, thanks to my stepfather. Just take the money, don't you want to achieve your dream?"

"Yes I do. I just I can't take that money from you!"

"You're not taking it, I'm giving it."

"Really I can't accept that kind of gift."

"Take it, go to New York. And tell your friends, I'm not that big of a jerk."

"You're not a jerk."

"Yes I am. Just not all the time."

Seto handed her an envelope, that had her name written across the front in cursive.

"Oh…"

"Come on, I'll give you a lift home."

Seto got on his street bike, followed by Téa. When they reached her hotel, they took off their helmets. And Téa gave Seto a long look. He looked down at his bike, without warning Téa grabbed him by his collar. She pulled him in a kiss, she thought he tasted pretty nice. When she stopped, she looked in his eyes. They were filled with confusion.

"Thank you Seto. I won't forget this."

"You're welcome _Téa_."

She waved goodbye, and ran up to her hotel room. Behind her she heard Seto start his bike and ride back to the Kaiba mansion.

_End flashback (present)_

Here Téa was on her plane ride back to Japan. She had done very well at Julliard, she felt accomplished. Téa just couldn't wait to get back home. To see Yugi, and his friendliness. Joey, and his large appetite. Tristan, and his smile. Duke, and his cool attitude. Mai, and her great fashion sense. Serenity, and her kindness. Mokubah, and his upbeat enthusiasm. Rebecca, and her inquisitiveness. Her parents just to see them and hold them. And Seto, to thank him so much for helping her out. She just wanted to give him another kiss too.

She thought, _"After all, what girl __**wouldn't **__want to kiss Seto Kaiba?"_

Her friends were also excited for their friend's arrival. They missed Téa and they had been very patient in waiting for her return.

Little did anyone know, that there was another villain rising, hoping to collect souls with a certain stone. Atlantis was going into another war, and this time they needed the Legendary swordsman again and a few others…


	2. Arrival  of Bad News

**Disclaimer: I own the plot and 624 Yu-Gi-Oh cards… not the characters though…**

**Not Again**

**Chapter 1: Arrival…of Bad News**

It was October twenty-fifth, around eleven-thirty in the morning. Téa stepped off of the plane, wearing a yellow shirt that had the word, "SPIRIT" printed on the front. Along with red shorts, and sneakers. She looked around the airport for any sign of her friends or parents. She heard Joey, she saw Yugi's crazy hairdo. The last thing she noticed was a large banner that said, "Welcome Home Téa" across the front.

Téa rushed to the banner, holding it up was Tristan and Duke. All her friends stood around it, Mai and Joey were holding hands. Serenity was standing next to Tristan. Her parents stood next to each other, Yugi was with his grandpa, and Rebecca was standing next to a boy around her age. He had raven hair, it was Mokubah! If Mokubah was here, Téa scanned nearby and saw him.

Seto was standing awkwardly to the side. He was leaning up against a wall watching over his brother. When they saw Téa they all screamed simultaneously, "Téa!".

"How was New York?", Serenity asked.

"I bet it was nothing like what I told you.", Joey commented.

"Did you buy any souvenirs?", Mokubah inquired.

"Does this mean you're a professional dancer now?", Rebecca wondered.

"I like your purse!", Mai announced.

"We missed you so much!", her parents cried.

"Did they play Duel Monsters over there?", Yugi asked.

"How was the plane ride?", Tristan asked.

"Was it fun?", Duke wondered.

"Did you meet any duelists?" Yugi's grandpa inquired.

Waiting patiently aside, Seto approached the group. He easily stood above all of them, he cleared his throat. Making everyone look at him.

"How are you?"

Seto thought it'd be easier if they asked how she was then progressed to New York.

Téa replied, relieved, "I feel better now that I'm home, thank you for asking."

"Before you all start interrogating me about New York! I would like to get home and unpack, besides I did bring souvenirs for all of you!"

After Téa got home, she quickly unpacked. She was done by twelve-thirty. Téa changed into one of her favorite outfits. It consisted of an aquamarine colored shirt that was sleeveless, blue shorts and white socks that went up to her mid-thigh. To finish it off, she had her blue sandals.

She grabbed all the presents, Téa gave her parents their gifts first. Which they were ecstatic about, she gave them a beautiful glass blown vase. Her parents told her that her friends had plans for her today.

So she didn't have to stay at home. She quickly headed over to the Game Shop, where she rendezvoused with Mai, Serenity, Rebecca, Joey, Tristan, Duke, and Yugi. They said they were going to go to the carnival that was on the boardwalk, to spend the day there.

The girls went into Mai's car, and the boys went into Duke's car. Téa thought something seemed fishy about the whole plan, but went along with it anyway. She had fun, when they came out of the fun house. Which was more weird than fun. Téa looked up and saw Mokubah running up to her, he was grinning at her.

A second later Seto came running into the scene looking for Mokubah.

Téa smiled, always with the protectiveness. Not that she could blame him, his brother had been held hostage countless times. He was wearing his Battle City attire. The white trench coat, not that she would ever admit it but she thought he looked the best in it. He had his black long sleeved shirt, and long black pants. The only thing he was missing was the duel disk.

He probably had it in his car or something. All of her duelist friends left their duel disks in their cars. Seto looked so worried, he had lost his little raven haired brother in the crowds. Usually his height would be and advantage that he could look over everyone. Since everyone knew who he was they all crowded and asked for autographs. He quickly signed his name on random scraps of paper. Then he dashed away in the direction Mokubah took off in.

He scanned the crowds frantically, he couldn't have just lost his brother! That would be the worst birthday gift ever! Being nineteen today, he figured it would just be Mokubah and him. Hanging out and getting some ice cream or something, but Mokubah told Seto to go to the boardwalk carnival. Why, Seto was never told. He just figured he wanted to ride the rides with Seto.

The weird part was, Mokubah didn't seem excited to hang out with his brother. More like someone else. Seto sighed, he sat down on a bench nearby, watching the people walk past.

Téa looked at the concerned Kaiba, then at Mokubah.

"Mokubah? What are you doing here?"

"I came to hang out with you!"

"Then why is Seto over there?"

"He's my ride."

"Why does he look, sad? I've seen him mad, or disgusted, never sad…"

"Oh."

The younger Kaiba looked over in the direction of his brother. He was now shaking his head with his hands on his head.

"What happened?"

"Well, we decided to mix two parties in one."

"We?"

"Yes, me, Joey, Yugi, Mai, Serenity, Tristan, Duke, everyone!"

"What parties?"

"You're welcome home party, duh!"

"The other one?"

"It doesn't really concern you, but I convinced Joey to let us do it."

"Do what?"

"Today's Seto's nineteenth birthday."

"What?"

"Yeah! Well, Joey said we should throw a party for your return. Then I remembered you were returning on Seto's birthday. So I asked if we could share the party with Seto's birthday. Joey didn't like the idea, but I reminded him that it was Seto who paid for your schooling at Julliard."

"Oh! I didn't get him anything! Besides, what are you supposed to give a guy who has everything?"

"He doesn't have everything."

"Yeah he does material wise."

"What about immaterial wise? He has no friends, just enemies…that's why I wanted to mix the party. I thought it'd be nice if Seto interacted more with people his age."

"That's nice, but why did you ditch him?"

"I saw you! I had to catch up! You'd think that with his long legs he'd keep up."

"But he's Seto Kaiba, he's too famous. Everyone will want an autograph."

"Oh yeah…"

Seto thought about what had happened earlier that week. He was walking down the stairs when he heard people arguing in the living room. When he walked inside he was surprised to see, Mokubah talking with Wheeler, Taylor, Duke, and Yugi.

_Flashback (a few days ago)_

"Mokubah?"

"There's the birthday boy himself!" Joey announced with sarcasm.

"What are you doing here Wheeler? Get out of my house!"

"Seto, chill. I invited them."

"Well, I'm uninviting them. How did you know my birthday was soon?"

"Mokubah told us. So nineteen, eh? And somehow you're still single? How?" Joey asked.

Seto glared at Mokubah, "Yes, so what?"

"How do you keep the ladies off of you?" Tristan asked.

The guys corned Seto into one of his own armchairs.

"It's easy…"

"Yeah right. You need a girlfriend. You always work too much. You need to take a break." Mokubah added.

"I'm sure you could get any girl you wanted." Yugi admitted.

"Wh-?" Seto started, he was so confused.

"Why don't you get a girlfriend?"

"I-"

"I doubt he could even ask a girl out, it would not compute." Joey said in a robotic voice.

Seto gave Joey a kick in the gut.

"Oof!" Joey fell on the ground.

"I could ask a girl out."

"Prove it."

"Why?"

"Why not?"

"No seriously why do I need a girlfriend?"

"Isn't there at least one girl you see better than any other Seto?"

"No. They all want my money, they think I'm 'hot'. They just want some of this."

"What about Téa?"

"Are you joking? One, I don't like her. Two, she doesn't like me. Three, we argue too much."

"Exactly opposites attract."

"NO."

"You know, Téa sent me an e-mail." Yugi said.

Everyone looked at him waiting for him to finish.

Yugi continued when everyone looked at him, "She was saying how she couldn't wait to see everyone."

"Well, we can't wait to see her!" Joey said.

"No, she said that she was excited to hang out with us guys again. But she really wanted to thank this other guy, she said not to laugh but, I couldn't help it."

"Help what?" everyone asked simultaneously.

"From what she was telling me, it sounded like she was talking about Kaiba. She was going on and on about how great he was. I don't know."

"Mai told me Téa liked some guy, when I asked who she said she couldn't tell me." Joey added.

"Same thing with Serenity!" Tristan agreed.

Seto stiffened his back at the thought of Téa liking him. She always was ready to defy him, why would she take interest in him? Was ANYWHERE safe from girls that liked him? Probably not.

Duke noticed Seto stiffen and decided to make him more uncomfortable.

"So, Téa has the hots for Kaiba. Why don't you ask her out then?"

"No."

"What? Why not?" everyone screamed.

"Like I said before, we argue too much. Plus I don't like her, why she likes me is beyond reason."

"Well, I could think of something." Tristan said.

"What?" Seto asked with sarcasm.

"You paid for her Julliard dream. I mean that's really nice of you, for anyone to do. Give enough money to pay for schooling in New York, not to mention the air fares."

"I'm rich. I can do that."

"She was struggling, and then you came in and saved her from restarting over again." Joey said, trying to persuade.

"She didn't even want to accept it. She said, 'I can't take this.' Then I just handed it over to her in an envelope. She took it."

"Well maybe she was just surprised you were giving her money. It honestly doesn't seem like you."

"I thought I told her, to tell you I'm not that big of a jerk!"

"She did." Joey said.

"Yeah, she was in like a weird dreamy state. It was so…unnatural." Duke added.

Tristan and Yugi nodded in agreement.

"Listen bro, I think you should ask her out. Please, just this once! You never have to ask anyone out again! Unless you want to…" Mokubah begged.

Seto sighed, he thought it over and over. He finally gave in after much persistence. He was outnumbered, even though he could easily take them all down.

_End flashback (present)_

Téa's friends came up to her, and Mokubah called Seto over. Seto's head shot up at the sound of his little brother's voice.

"Hey Téa, I think it's time to slow down a bit. Lets go on the Ferris Wheel!" Joey suggested. The others nodded. Seto approached, relief washed over his face.

"That sounds great Joey! Hey Seto, lets go on the Ferris Wheel!" Mokubah chimed in.

Seto just eyed the group warily and nodded. It just seemed suspicious.

When the large party reached the Ferris Wheel the sun was about to set.

"I call sitting with Mai!" Joey announced.

"Dibs on Serenity!" Tristan said.

"Yugi, want to sit with me?" Rebecca asked.

"Sure…" Yugi said blushing.

"Hey, Mokubah want sit with me?" Duke asked, before Seto could.

"Alright."

Now Seto was positive, they were trying to get him to ask Téa out.

"I guess that leaves us together." Téa stated.

Everyone got inside the ride, everyone was laughing and stuff but Seto and Téa just sat there awkwardly. Téa was gripping the handle bar, so tight that her knuckles were white. Seto found this weird and asked her what was wrong with her.

"You might want to ease your grip on that poor bar."

Téa just blinked at him, "What?"

"Why are you holding on so tightly to that bar?" Seto just crossed his arms, height wasn't a big deal to him since he was tall.

"Oh, well I, uh, just have a fear of heights. And there was an incident this other time I went on a Ferris wheel."

Seto just raised an eyebrow, then he pulled her hand off of the bar.

"Just relax, I know this ride is safe."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I helped design it."

"Oh."

Just then their car stopped at the very top. They had a view of the sunset.

"It's beautiful…" Téa said in amazement.

"It sure is…" Seto agreed.

The brunettes stared out at the sunset, until it disappeared behind the horizon. Then they saw the whole boardwalk light up with lights from the rides.

Seto was watching the roller coaster. He always liked roller coasters, which was why he had constructed Kaibaland. A place full of fun designs. Téa glanced over at her companion, the lights made half of his face glow, and it darkened the other half.

She was startled out of her daydream when he spoke to her.

"See something you like?"

"Wha-? No!" She quickly turned away, blushing furiously. Seto just snickered, then watched all the people walking around below.

After a few minutes the ride started moving again, slowly their carriage descended to the ground. Téa hopped off excitedly, and Seto slowly got off and headed towards the roller coaster. He wasn't going to spend his birthday with Yugi's gang of losers.

After walking a few feet he realized someone was walking with him, he turned.

It was Téa, she stopped in front of him with her hands on her hips.

"Where do you think you're going?" she asked, her eyes filled with concern.

"It doesn't matter. Go and hang out with your friends, besides Mokubah would rather have fun with you guys than with me." He turned away at the last part, he didn't want to think about it.

"I just don't know how to have fun…" he admitted.

"Do you mind if I join you?"

"Why? Why would you, your friends will just come and follow you."

She shrugged, "I don't know. I heard it's your birthday," Seto looked at her.

"I feel bad, it's like as if my arrival has made Mokubah neglect your celebration…I mean they really should celebrate you. Without you, I wouldn't have gotten to go to New York. I wanted to thank you for doing that."

Seto was looking down at her, his eyes showed no emotion. Well Téa decided to change that, she pulled on his collar again and kissed him. For at least a few seconds, because Seto kept squirming.

When they stopped, Seto started walking away.

"Hey!" Téa yelled.

"What?" he called over his shoulder.

"Where are you going?"

"Away."

"Where?" she asked while jogging beside him, his fast walking speed was equivalent to her jogging speed. She didn't want to see him run.

"I don't want to spend my birthday with people who don't like me." with that he turned the corner towards the roller coaster.

Téa just stood there shocked, people liked him. Of course Joey, Tristan, Duke, and even Yugi at times really just wanted to push him off of a cliff. Even if Seto was mean most of the time, he had his moments and made up for it.

Before Téa even realized it she was running after Kaiba. She found him making his way towards the roller coasters, he seemed to be looking up and watching them and smiling? Téa thought, _"Smiling? He's smiling? When have I seen him smile…Mokubah…and winning…"_

She caught up to him, and got into step with him. She heard him sigh.

"What do you want?" he asked, without looking at her.

"Huh? Well I wanted to hang out with you."

"No one 'hangs out' with me."

"Lets change that."

He turned, "Why do you continue to do what you're doing?"

"Do what? I merely want to spend time with the neglected birthday boy."

He gave her a look of annoyance.

"Oooh! Lets ride that!" Téa pointed excitedly towards the roller coaster with a bunch of twists. She grabbed Seto by the arm and dragged him towards the ride.

They didn't have to wait in line long, everybody made a clearing when they saw Kaiba. He quickly made his way to the front, before anyone asked for any more autographs. He was stopped short by the ride operator, who wouldn't let him pass without signing his shirt. Seto signed it and quickly sat in a seat, he pulled the latch over himself. Téa flashed him a smile, in her seat next to him.

When the rest of the people waiting to ride started sitting, a bunch of girls squealed.

"SETO KAIBA! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!"

Since the ride had five seats next to each other in a row, lucky Seto sat in the middle seat, with Téa on his left. Seto scowled as two giggling girls sat in the two available seats next to him. Another girl pouted at her friends then sat in the last available seat.

Téa felt bad for Seto, to make the girls back off a bit she grabbed his hand. The girls all leaned in at her action, then glared at Téa.

"You're quite the ladies' man." Téa whispered.

"Thanks." Seto thanked her sincerely.

She nodded.

The ride took off, it was five minutes filled with loops and twists and turns, ups and downs and sideways. When they got off Téa was dizzy, she almost fell. Seto laughed at her, she gave him a glare.

"That's what you get for choosing the fastest, and the most twisted roller coaster."

"Oh ha ha. You sir are hilarious."

Seto shrugged and walked away leaving the dizzy Téa to chase after him again. They rode the rest of the roller coasters before her friends finally found them. They stopped to eat some food, and Joey had decided to buy a burger when he saw them.

Seto was just sitting there eating and Téa was looking at him, with interest? What's so interesting about Moneybags eating?

"Hey Téa!" Joey called.

The two brunettes looked up. Seto stood and threw away his trash, Téa stood and headed over to her friends.

"Oh hey!"

"What were you doing? We've been looking all over for you?"

"And Kaiba?"

"Yeah, sure…where were you?"

"We were riding the roller coasters. You wouldn't believe me if I told you but Kaiba could be a comedian! He was so funny!"

Joey gave her a look mixed with disbelief and horror, "You're still talking about the same icy, mean, jerk, that thinks he is above everyone else, right?"

Téa didn't say anything, she just looked up past Joey's head.

"Yes." Seto's voice said behind Joey.

Seto glared at Joey and scowled. When he turned and walked away towards his car, Téa punched Joey in the arm.

"Can't you give him a break at least on his birthday?" and she ran after Seto.

He was a few feet away from his car, when he heard someone call his name.

"Seto! Kaiba! Seto Kaiba!" Téa called.

Seto stood there with his arms crossed, she caught up to him. The streetlight dimly lit each of their faces.

"Yes can I help you?" he asked in the same monotone voice, he used two years ago. When she had hurt him in the Burger World.

"Why are you leaving?"

"I'm unwanted."

Before Téa could respond there was a bright flash somewhere nearby in the parking lot.

"Who's there?" Seto yelled.

"Do not be alarmed Kaiba."

The brunettes recognized that voice, it was Dartz.

"Dartz." Seto growled. Téa hid behind Seto. Seto was still angered at the King of Atlantis. Who wouldn't be if you had your soul stolen?

"Don't worry, I have not come to harm you. Or your companion."

"What do you want?"

"I have come with an urgent message."

"Let me guess, the world is in danger, again. Thanks to your carelessness to destroy that stupid stone."

Dartz stood there dumbfounded, "Well, not exactly."

"Hah! How did I know this was going to happen?"

"History can repeat itself Mister Kaiba. Atlantis needs the Legendary swordsmen once more!"

"That once will become two then three, by then it will be a routine."

"No, do not turn your back on us in our time of need. We need your help, I have already approached the others. They complied, we cannot wish to defeat this new force without Master Critias. He also plays a crucial role."

"Even if I decided to help you, how would we get to Atlantis?"

"Take my hand. You too." Dartz said to Téa.

Téa was startled, "What? Why do I have to go?"

"You're assistance also has role to play in our fight against our new enemy."

"What role? She doesn't duel, or not much. She doesn't even have one of the Legendary Swordsmen!" Seto interrupted.

"No, but she does have magic."

"Magic?" Téa asked with curiosity.

"I will explain when we arrive at my palace. You see Yugi and Joseph did not enter Atlantis alone. They brought a companion."

"What?" Both brunettes said in unison.

"They brought a companion. We need more help than just the Legendary Swordsmen. We need Ladies."

"Ladies?" Seto snorted.

"What 'Ladies'?" Téa asked.

"They aid the Swordsmen. They stay by their sides and make them strong. Joseph he brought along Miss Valentine. Yugi he brought along an inquisitive girl, Miss Hawkins I believe. You, you Kaiba. You must bring Téa."

"Why?" they asked in unison, again.

"Do not make this difficult. We have wasted too much time already. I cannot promise you that when I teleport you to Atlantis, you will arrive directly at my palace. You may have to journey a bit. The others had to do so as well. Now take this."

He handed Seto a stone the color of his eyes, it glowed when it touched Seto.

"This shall teleport you to Atlantis. You both must be touching it in order to teleport you both. Flip it three times then touch it. I must go now. Good luck."

There was a bright flash, and where Dartz once stood, there was nothing.

The brunettes gave each other a look, then Seto obeyed the instructions.

He flipped the stone three times and both of them touched it. There was a brilliant blue flash and the two were somewhere else.


End file.
